Missing In Action
by Sarah Jo
Summary: While the Wizarding world was celebrating Voldemort's death, one family was mourning the loss of their youngest. This is a world with a different prophecy, where Harry never met Ginny Weasley, & the story of what happens when she abruptly enters his life
1. The Runaway

**Title:** Missing In Action

**Author Name:** Sarah Jo

**Disclaimer:** All of the characters in this story have been borrowed from JKRowling. The plot however, is mine (at least _I've_ never seen it done before...).

**Author's Note:** Well I finished re-reading OotP finally, I've been crying all morning (because I was watching Fushigi Yuugi, not because I was reading OotP...surprisingly I wasn't even sad when Sirius died this time) and now I'm finally ready to write. I don't even remember when I came up with this idea...last year sometime. I started working on it the last day of school when my mom forgot to pick me up :glare: Anyway... I really like the _idea _of this story...the only problem is I'm not very good at writing Action. O.o Oh well... I tried my best so hopefully it turned out okay.

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Chapter One  
The Runaway

A nervous excitement filled her as she rounded the corner into an empty corridor. This was farther than she'd ever made it in the labyrinth that was her prison. She came to an intersection, not pausing as she dashed down the left hallway. After being recaptured numerous times as she tried to decide which direction to take, she had learned to just go wherever her gut told her too. Besides, her sense of direction was hopelessly distorted after being in the underground maze for so long. No matter how long she took, she would never be able to tell where she was heading.

Her heart leapt into her throat as the alarm blared to life._ 'No...'_

The sound of heavy footfalls spurred her on to greater speeds. How had they located her so quickly this time? She rounded another corner to find the way blocked by a wall of black-robed wizards, each with their wand trained on her.

Whirling around frantically, she tried to go back the way she had come, only to find her pursuers had caught up to her. She was trapped. Again.

They had been playing with her; letting her think she almost had her freedom, dangling it front of her just to snatch it away again. She was so close this time - she could almost taste the salty sea air from above. But she didn't have a chance to begin with. She never did.

They were sneering at her now, mocking her for her pathetic attempt - for thinking they would let her get away. Her despair was replaced with a burning anger toward the cruel people who held her captive.

Even as they closed in on her, seventeen armed men against one small girl, even as she realized she had no chance, even as she realized she was once again going to be captured, she was also just as sure that this time, she would fight.

Before any of them had time to subdue her with a spell, she lashed out at the closest man, throwing all of her weight at the unsuspecting victim. He slammed into the stone wall of the passageway and fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

The other men paused to gaped unbelievingly at their unresponsive comrade. This was different. Their captive had escaped many times previously, and each time she was cornered she would sedately take her punishment and before she was returned to her cell.

She was already rounding on the next person; biting, hitting, kicking anything she came into contact with. The sound of the second man falling sent the other wizards into action.

Instinctively she dropped to the ground, barely avoiding fifteen stunners. Launching herself at a pair of legs she caused their owner to stumble backward, and in the process knock over several of his companions.

Her way was clear.

In a second she was off again, sprinting even faster than before. She_ couldn't_ let them catch her now, for she would surely receive a much greater punishment than ever before. She could hear them cursing as they once again gave chase to her, but she didn't dare turn around and she how much space was between them. No matter how much of a head start she had gotten, she couldn't afford to trip.

The hall split ahead. She turned right this time, hoping she would soon find an exit. Her heart fell...it was a dead end. But it was too late to turn back, they were already catching up.

Suddenly exhaustion set in. How long had she been running? Minutes? Hours? Her legs and her feet were aching, her tattered clothes had several new rips, and she could feel a migraine coming on.

There was no way she would get out.

Collapsing against the damp wall, she watched as her chasers once again closed in on her. The fighting energy that had overcome her early had all vanished. She was going to be beat up and once again sent back to her cell, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she wanted to do was sleep.

As they advanced on her with their wands raised, she wondered how much time had passed since she had been kidnaped. She couldn't muster up the energy to be scared.

She did not so much as flinch as they tortured her. They would not kill her, of that much she was sure. She was needed.

As she blacked out, she could have sworn she heard somebody, a boy, tell her not to lose hope. And she didn't. Next time, maybe, she would escape.

* * *

Panic. That was the only way to describe the chaos that filled the room. It had started when a hysterical Remus Lupin interrupted the Order meeting. Dumbledore immediately knew something was very wrong. Remus Lupin did _not_ get hysterical.

And as he soon found out, something_ was_ wrong.

_The front door slammed shut with a loud bang causing the portrait of Mrs. Black to start shrieking. Kingsley, who held the floor at the time, stopped listing possible new recruits, and Mrs. Weasley began grumbling as she prepared to go quiet the painting. Everyone else waited curiously to find out who was the cause of the disruption._

_They didn't have to wait long. Remus flew into the room, robes askew and panting heavily._

_"He's gone."_

_That was all he had to say for all hell to break loose._

They weren't getting anywhere like this. Somebody has to get things under control. Unfortunately that responsibility was left to him.

"Silence" He didn't have to raise his voice, immediately the room fell quiet. "Molly please go quiet the portrait. Remus explain."

Molly Weasley quickly set to her task while Remus greedily sipped the water handed to him by Tonks. When Molly had returned to her seat, he began, still breathing heavily.

"I went to relieve Mundungus from guard duty at one o'clock. I was a bit concerned because he mentioned something earlier about getting in a shipment of telescopes... but I figured he learned his lesson last time." There was no need to explain, they all remembered last time. Dementors. "But he wasn't at Arabella's to give me a report of Harry's activities..." the werewolf trailed off as Molly gave an outraged cry.

"Please continue, Remus," Dumbledore urged, sending Mrs. Weasley a reproving glance.

"I checked the house first. When I didn't find him there I began to get worried. Harry hasn't left much since -" he choked. He still hadn't gotten over Sirius' death. He was so busy with the Order that he hadn't had much time to think on it. Which was a good thing - the wound caused by his last remaining friend's death was still fresh and bleeding.

"Did you check the rest of the neighbourhood?"

"Of course," answered Remus, regaining his composure. "He was nowhere to be found."

Once again, panic set in. Everyone was talking at once while Dumbledore sat dazedly staring off into space.

There was no way...Voldemort couldn't touch him while he was at Privet Drive. But that could only mean...but Harry wouldn't do that.

"Tonks, please go see if you can locate Mundungus. Alastor, would you kindly accompany Kingsley to Surrey and see if there is anything Remus missed?" There was three pops as they Disapparated.

"Remus -" Dumbledore began in the silence that set in after their departure "- was there any sign of a struggle?"

"Well as you can imagine I was more concentrated on finding Harry than checking out my surroundings, but there was nothing that immediately jumped to my attention."

Dumbledore sighed. "Then it is as I feared."

"Sir?" questioned George, who had just recently been inducted into the Order along with Fred (of course).

"Harry has run away."

To be continued...

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**Author's Note:** I was going to make this chapter longer but that cliffie was too good to resist :evil grin: I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you did, please review. If I don't get at least 10 reviews I most likely won't ever update again. Sorry if there's any typos. I kind of _hate_ going over my work and editing it. If anybody notices any spelling or grammar mistakes please tell me in your review. 

I'd like to apologize to anyone who was reading my other fics. My reason for not updating is my friends got me hooked on manga and anime...lame excuse huh? Well it's the truth. Hopefully I'll be updating them soon. The release of the third movie has me hooked on Harry Potter again (I only got to see it three times :pout:).


	2. Time To Heal

**Title:** Missing In Action

**Author Name:** Sarah Jo

**Disclaimer:** The characters used in this fic belong to JKRowling. I'm just...borrowing them.

**Author's Note:** I'd just like to say that MTV has to be the most mind-numbing channel ever.

Okay...actually I'd like to say more than that. I haven't been in the writing mood lately. I_ tried_ working on this chapter several times but ended up just staring blankly at the computer screen for an hour and trying to figure out what AFI stands for (Does anybody know? That's really been bothering me.). Anyway, I was listening to my Blink182 cd today and after listening to Asthenia I suddenly felt the urge to write again. In a way this song goes well with the chapter so I had to include some of the lyrics.

_

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_

_Last night it came as a picture  
With a good reason, a warning sign  
This place is void of all passion  
If you can imagine it's easy if you try  
Believe me I failed this effort  
I wrote a reminder this wasn't a vision  
This time where are you Houston  
Is somebody out there will somebody listen_

_Should I go back should I go back should I  
I feel alone and tired  
Should I go back should I go back should I  
I hope I won't forget you_  
-Asthenia, blink182

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Chapter Two  
Time to Heal

Harry woke with a start. He was immediately alert, ready to take on the Death Eaters and protect _her_. But there weren't any Death Eaters. The only other living creatures in the deserted alley were Hedwig, who hooted dolefully at him from atop one of the various dumpsters, and perhaps a few rats.

"It was only a dream," he reassured the owl, wincing as he accidentally put all of his weight on his right ankle. He carefully maneuvered himself back into a sitting position, closing his eyes as he rested his head back against a trash bin.

It wasn't an ordinary dream.

He didn't know why he'd been having these dreams all summer. He had never in his life met the girl he'd come to think of as "Red". He had no idea where she was being held. Hell, he didn't even know where _he_ was at the moment. But he was positive that she was as real as Ron or Hermione. And she needed him.

Not that he'd be much help in his current condition. Besides his sprained right ankle, he was sure he had at least two cracked ribs, his back covered with severe cuts (now bleeding freely after being torn open again when he jumped up upon awakening), and most of his body was covered with ugly purple bruises. Nothing he couldn't handle. He considered himself lucky that he didn't have internal bleeding.

But that didn't change the fact that he wasn't making as much progress as he would have liked. He traveled slowly and tired easily. Harry figured he had at least four hours head start. Nobody would have noticed his absence until Mundungus' two hour shift was over and then they would have to organize a search party.

Luckily he had yet to run in to any trouble. So far he hadn't met a single witch or wizard. He dreaded being found by the Order just as much, if not more, than being found by Death Eaters.

What would they think when they saw his bruises? They would pity him, of that much he was sure. Maybe they would be angry. Why hadn't he told anyone?

Because he was ashamed. The-Great-Boy-Who-Lived survived five encounters with Lord Voldemort, but he let himself get beat up by his Muggle relatives. He could have quite easily notified any member of the Order of the Phoenix and they would have put a stop to it. In fact several times he had started to write a letter to Dumbledore only to change his mind half-way through. After all, Dumbledore _was_ a busy man. He could take care of himself just fine without having to unload his problems onto somebody else.

Harry snorted as he eyed a particularly large bruise on his forearm. He couldn't take very good care of himself after all. The truth was, he felt he deserved the rough treatment the Dursley's had inflicted on him. What right did he have to be happy and alive, when he, Harry, had caused his own Godfather's death?

Sirius had _died_ because of _his_ stupid mistake. Surely he could handle whatever his relatives dished out without complaining?

He wasn't sure what had brought about this change in his relationship with the Dursley's. There had always been a mutual hatred, but besides the few punches Dudley had been able to land, they had never physically hurt him before.

Maybe it was because his very being practically screamed "depression" ever since he returned to Privet Drive. Maybe it was because they had found out about his Godfather's death when he cried out in his nightmares. Maybe they simply didn't appreciate being threatened by all of the Order members at King's Cross.

Whatever the reason, Uncle Vernon had been..._rough_...with him ever since his first day home. (**AN**: Eww unwanted mental images there.) And Harry had never once complained or fought back. He had the scars on his back to prove it. He dealt with the lack of sleep, the physical and mental abuse, and the malnutrition without complaint.

But that last day, his final day at his relative's house, he had lost it. He was used to being insulted, he was almost used to his parents being insulted, but he could not stand for Sirius to be made fun of. Harry closed his eyes tightly as the memory flashed before his eyes.

_He was in trouble. Again. This time for waking Uncle Vernon up with his nightmares. Harry tried not to flinch as his uncle got out "the belt." So it was going to be whipping again. Vernon usually didn't do the same punishment two nights in a row. He said he liked variety._

_He heard the rush of air as the belt was brought down on his back. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as the belt buckle sliced into his skin._

_"Boy, what have I told you?"_

_Harry remained silent. It wouldn't matter if he answered or not...in the end._

_"Nothing to say, eh? You're not as talkative now that you don't have your murderer Godfather to protect you."_

_His eyes widened. How had they found out?_

_"Of course I always knew he'd come to a sticky end, just like your good-for-nothing parents. I suppose he was executed by the police...or whatever it is that _your_ kind have. Or maybe he died like a coward, starved to death while hiding from the authorities. A convicted murderer can't just walk into a restaurant now can they?"_

_Vernon never saw the punch coming._

_"Sirius was no coward," he said calmly, nursing his fist; Uncle Vernon's head was _hard

_But his uncle recovered quickly, and before Harry could react he was being lifted over his head and hurled at the mantle with a strength he didn't know the overweight man possessed. There was a tinkle of breaking glass as he hit the mantle, crushing many of the trinkets his aunt had decorated it with, and a loud crash as Harry fell to the ground. He winced as he felt pieces of glass cut into his already bleeding back._

_The noise brought his aunt running into the room. "Vernon don't!" But she wasn't worried about Harry, she was worried about the mess her husband was creating in her pristine living room._

_The young wizard let out a hiss of pain as he tried to scramble to his feet. Something was wrong with his right ankle, he couldn't put any weight on it. His uncle was already bearing down on him again._

_"Stupefy!" He said it more on reflex than actually thinking it would work. His wand was upstairs in his school trunk._

_**Thud!**_

_He watched in disbelief as his uncle slumped down unconscious._ 'What the hell?'

_But he didn't have the time to ponder why it had worked. He had to leave. _Now_. There was no way his relatives would let him stay after this, and the Ministry would soon be after him for performing magic outside of school. They wouldn't find him, he would already be long gone._

_Besides, he had to rescue _her_. He was the only one that knew about her. He was the only one that could save her._

After that he had packed a few of his belongings, along with any food that could be brought along, and whatever spare change could be found in a knapsack he took from Dudley's room. And then he left, not once stopping to look back and never regretting his decision.

As far as he knew the Ministry owl was still fluttering around his room on Privet Drive. Hopefully someone from the Order had enough sense to gather up his textbooks and the rest of his belongings, so he could reclaim them later on.

Until then he had to keep going north, towards the light, where she would surely be located. He could only hope he found _her_ before the Death Eaters found_him_.

_

* * *

_

_Her eyes were open, but everything was an inky black. It never occurred to her to be worried that she couldn't see. There was a presence that filled the blackness with warmth and made her feel protected._

_"I'm coming for you."_

'Who are you?'_ She had heard that voice before, but she couldn't recall whom it belonged to._

_"Wait for me."_

_The aura was fading, leaving her to feel broken and insecure. She tried holding on to the dream, but the blackness was already beginning to disappear._

The moldy ceiling of her cell slowly came in to focus. Ginny groaned as she clumsily pushed herself up to her hands and knees. She covered her mouth as she was suddenly overcome by a coughing attack. A warm sticky substance was coating her hand when she brought it away. Blood.

The young girl laboriously crawled over to the corner, where she sat huddled, trying to ignore the chill that always permeated the underground maze.

_'Back here again,' _she thought dully as she shivered. She wondered how long she had been unconscious. There was no way of telling what time of day it was from her prison. She'd long since given up trying to guess how long she had been confined.

But the biggest question, the one that was always lurking in the back of her mind, was _why_._ Why did these men kidnap _her _of all people?_ She was a perfectly normal teenager with parents who went to work everyday, friends who liked to gossip, teachers who tried to drown her with homework. Nothing special. _Why did they kill her parents? _They had never done anything wrong, and she would have come quietly if meant their lives could have been spared. _Why _didn't _they kill her? _How could they possibly benefit from keeping her alive? Wouldn't it be much easier to kill her off than wasting the resources needed to keep her alive (albeit barely) and in her cell?

No matter how many times she puzzled over the questions, the answers never came, and if any of the guards knew, they certainly weren't telling her. As a matter of fact they pretty much ignored her except for when she was trying to escape, and she had a nasty feeling that they enjoyed those times because it gave them a short respite from their boredom.

_'How many guards do I have anyway?'_

There had been seventeen last time. Once she had counted twenty-three. Was she really important enough to merit such tight security? Somebody obviously thought so. If they thought she needed that many guards _before_, she didn't want to know how closely she would be watched now that she had actually fought back for once.

She would have to break out. Soon. Before they had the opportunity to shorten her leash. If the hallways where overrun with Black Robes she had no chance of escaping. She never had much of a chance _before_.

Right now she was in no condition to be standing, much less running frantically through the halls. She was pretty much guaranteed to be caught within ten feet of her cell.

_'Tomorrow.'_

After a good night's rest she would be fully healed. None of her injuries were _too_ bad this time. As long as she avoided the drugged food she would once again be full-strength and ready to risk another attempt at freedom.

With any luck her captors won't have had the time to double security before the next day. With any luck they were still recuperating from the rather eventful previous escape effort. With any luck they had yet to figure out her abnormally fast healing powers. With any luck this would be the last night (if it was even night) she spent in her much-hated cell.

For now all she could do was rest.

As she closed her eyes closed her eyes a memory that she had tried to fend off since she aroused invaded her mind.

She had killed someone.

Who would have guessed that she would one day become a murderer? Certainly not her. No matter how she tried to convince herself that it was self defense and the bastard deserved it, it didn't take away the fact the she had ended a life.

She wondered what her parents would say. If they were still alive that is. But as quickly as that thought came, she banished it. She didn't want to know, couldn't bear their disappointment.

Maybe she didn't deserve to escape after all. She wasn't much better than those who held her prisoner anymore. But she felt she had to escape, even if it wasn't for herself._ Somebody _needed her, just as much as she needed them.

In the nightmares that took her over as she slowly drifted off, she could only watch helplessly as a black-robed figure fell slowly to the ground again and again as another Ginny laughed mercilessly. And she was helpless to stop herself.

_'Tomorrow.'_

* * *

The youngest Weasley had never seen the members of the Order of the Phoenix this busy. Although it provided for a change from the boring routine of cleaning day-in and day-out, he couldn't help but wish he never had seen them this busy.

It wasn't worth it.

His best friend was missing. That fact alone would cause anyone to be stressed. Dumbledore said Harry had runaway, and each new bit of information proving that theory brought on additional worry.

After the initial chaos had died down, each member of the Order was set to a different task, leaving only a few behind at Grimmauld Place to wait anxiously for the others to return with information.

The twins, showing surprising insight, had taken the initiative to tell Ron what happened. They remembered what it was like the year before when they weren't allowed to attend the meetings, left to scrounge what little information they could from the Extendable Ears.

As expected he didn't take the information well. After going through denial (_"Harry's not that thick."_) and anger (_"What was that git thinking!"_), he finally resigned himself to writing a letter to Hermione. Everybody else was too busy to notify her. She deserved to know just as much as he did.

Now that the letter was attached to Pig's leg somewhere in mid-flight on the way to Hermione's house, he finally allowed himself to be overcome with worry.

And worry he did.

When Mundungus finally showed up and told them that Harry was the one who convinced him to finish out his telescope deal. When Kingsley and Moody had returned to report that the Dursley's living room showed signs of a struggle and the Dursley's themselves were nowhere to be found. When they handed Dumbledore what was left of Harry's belongings and added that there had been blood found at Number Four Privet Drive...lots of it. When the confused Improper Use of Magic owl, informing Harry that he was to be expelled for using magic outside of school, had shown up around noon. He worried.

He wanted to help. He'd do anything to assist in the search for his friend, but as his mother repeatedly reminded him and underage wizard would just get in the way.

All he could do was wait for Hermione to arrive, as she undoubtedly would as soon as she got his owl. She would think of something to do. She always did.

To Be Continued...

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**Author's Note**: Poor Harry. I never planned on him being abused, I was just in a bad mood when I wrote his part. I am not happy with the way Harry's argument with Vernon turned out. I myself have never been physically abused by my parents, so I don't feel qualified to write about it. But it _is_ an important aspect of this fanfic so I couldn't leave that part out. (Wow, I almost sounded smart there.)

This chapter took me forever to write. The second chapter is always the hardest. You're just getting started and there's so many different directions you're story could go in. I ended up having to _plan ahead_. Bleh! I hate planning. But I do have quite a few ideas now and I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going with this fic.

I know I said I wouldn't update until I got ten reviews, but I only wanted to make sure that _somebody_ was actually reading this story so I had a reason to continue writing. Thanks to all that reviewed. Since you took the time to review, and I have no life outside of my room at the moment I suppose I can take the time to respond to everyone

Btw...while trying to get rid of my writer's block I made a website. I spent less than half a day on it so it's not too great, but check it out. You can read my fics there if is down. The link is in my profile.

**mellogirl8** - Everything should eventually be explained, but it will most likely get more confusing before then. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the first.

**ZanyMuggle **- I remember you I'm glad to hear that somebody didn't give up on me after I was absent for such a long time! I would have thought you could guess how it's AU from the summary, but no worries Everything will come clear sooner or later. I would really like to update_ In Loving Memory _but I kind of hate it now. I reread the first chapter and was embarrassed that I wrote it. But since so many people reviewed I will get around to updating eventually (can't let my reviewers down now can I?). I'll try not to disappear for so long again.

**nameless926** - I'm glad you liked the first chapter, that's always the easiest chapter to write. Hopefully this chapter didn't let you down I guess I'll have to be satisfied with staring at my Sirius Black shirt until the movie comes out on dvd. I got it from Hot Topic, it's a guy's shirt but I still luff it

**denaumo** - Thank you! Hopefully you liked the second chapter as much as the first. It's always the hardest chapter for me to write.

**Ookii Mamoru **- I find new addictions all the time. First it was Young Wizards, then Pirates of the Caribbean, then Digimon, then Inuyasha. I always end up coming back to Harry Potter though I'll give Sailor Moon a try when I have the time.

**padfootandprongs4ever** - blush Thank you! I worked on that chapter for days and I still don't think it was all that great (although it was fun to write). It could be because I have almost no self confidence.

**Gohan00 **- Thanks I try to update often but you never can tell how much time will pass between chapters. Besides my three Harry Potter stories I'm working on several Inuyasha fics.

**Hippie-Banana **- Sorry! Normally I wouldn't beg for reviews but I had to see if anyone liked the first chapter. There's really no reason to continue writing if nobody was going to read it. Besides I'm likely to update faster if I get a bunch of good reviews (puts me in a good mood and boosts my confidence a bit). I'm really glad you enjoyed the first chapter, hope you keep reading

**crestingstar** - Intros are my strong point but I'm trying my best to keep the rest of the story up-to-scratch. I've always hated angst. It makes me frustrated, but then again it does keep me reading


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